Citrus Bowl's new field of dreams needs a do-over

The stadium is home to the MEAC/SWAC Challenge and the Florida Classic (Bethune-Cookman University vs. Florida A&M University).

First the "mud bowl" made Orlando and its aging Citrus Bowl a national laughingstock, forcing the city to spend nearly $1 million for artificial turf. Now it turns out the AstroTurf that replaced real grass at the stadium last summer isn't level, so it has to be ripped up and redone.

Fixing the field is potentially a costly job, but taxpayers won't be on the hook. City officials say it's up to the synthetic turf's manufacturer to pick up the tab.


Videographer: ESPN; 2010 Florida Classic, Florida A&M vs. Bethune Cookman

Orlando officials switched to AstroTurf to avoid a repeat of the December 2009 Champs Sports Bowl, which made Orlando the butt of jokes in front of a national television audience. The field's fresh sod wasn't given time to grow in, and heavy rains caused players to slip and slide on loose chunks of turf.

The city spent $975,338 to cover the field with AstroTurf GameDay 3D60X artificial turf, which workers finished installing in August.

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Citrus Bowl to keep MEAC-SWAC Challenge through 2013

The MEAC/SWAC Challenge will remain in Orlando through 2013.

ESPN and Walt Disney World officials made the announcement of the extension Sunday morning prior to the Delaware State-Southern game at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

"The ongoing support of Walt Disney World will contribute to the continued growth and success of this event and ESPN's commitment to HBCU football," said Nikki Godfrey, the game's executive director.

Southern University scored 21 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 37-27 win over Delaware State before 16,367 sun baked fans at the Florida Citrus Bowl in the 2010 MEAC/SWAC Challenge.



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Citrus Bowl begins artificial turf installation

ORLANDO, FL -- The organization that runs the Citrus Bowl and its bowl games has ensured that the field conditions that marred last year's games will not happen again.

Florida Citrus Sports says installation of an artificial turf surface is underway, and the new field will be ready for the MEAC/SWAC Challenge between Southern and Delaware State on Sept. 5.

“We have been staging major events in the stadium for over 60 years where the athlete experience is of premium importance,” said Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan in a news release. “Hosting a large number of events in short time windows have challenged the ability to provide optimum field conditions and paint schemes needed for national television. With this improvement, we are very excited about our ability to provide one of the safest, most technologically-advanced playing surfaces in the industry to our customer.”

Heavy rain and cold temperatures following last December's eight high school football championships at the stadium did not allow a new grass field to set properly before the Champs Sports Bowl and Capital One Bowl, making for a messy and dangerous situation. Miami Hurricanes running back Graig Cooper suffered a knee injury that he and his coaching staff blamed on the poor field conditions. Cooper's status for the 2010 season is still up in the air as he rehabs the injury.



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New Citrus Bowl field could end up in legal fight

Delay those purchase orders for new turf shoes -- MEAC/SWAC Challenge teams Delaware State University and Southern University. Same for you also, Florida Classic rivals Bethune-Cookman University and Florida A&M University. You are not out of the mud yet, with the Citrus Bowl. Read on....

You thought the mud debacle at the Citrus Bowl was bad?

Just wait. The long-anticipated installation of artificial turf could be caught up in a legal tangle, potentially damaging the hopes of putting in the new turf in time for the 2010 season. FieldTurf has questioned the way the city awarded AstroTurf the contract to put in the new grass, and is now threatening legal action. Darren Gill, vice president of marketing for FieldTurf, said in a phone interview, “This is not a case of sour grapes, but when the bidding laws aren’t abided by it should be a concern of the citizens of Orlando.”

Gill said the company has requested various documents from the City of Orlando through the Freedom of Information Act and is in the process of determining whether it should take legal action. Rather than go through a public bidding process for the artificial turf, the City of Orlando chose to go through national purchasing co-ops. Both companies already have established contracts through their respective co-ops. The city is a member of both co-ops, so they were allowed to utilize their services. The city then took a look at both contracts and went with AstroTurf “because of the quality, installation, history and pricing,” according to City of Orlando spokeswoman Cassandra Lafser.

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Orlando losing out on neutral-site games thanks to rundown Citrus Bowl‎

The Florida Citrus Bowl is home to the Florida Classic played between Bethune Cookman University and Florida A&M University. The 2010 MEAC/SWAC Challenge featuring Delaware State University and Southern University will also be played at this venue.

Orlando has taken a double-whammy to the gut in recent weeks, losing potential neutral-site games featuring Notre Dame and Florida State. Nothing surprising there, right? Orlando simply cannot lure marquee college football matchups with its woefully out-of-date Citrus Bowl. You know it. I know it. Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan knows it. While the $10 million in initial renovations is a nice measure, it is going to do nothing to get Orlando into the neutral-site game. Sadly, this is the worst time for the Citrus Bowl to be lagging behind its competitors.

Neutral-site games are in vogue once again. This season alone, there will be some 23 games played outside home stadiums across the country, up from 13 in 2007. The Georgia Dome, new Cowboys Stadium and FedEx Field, are just a few of the stadiums hosting games in 2010. Now University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., wants a piece, too, announcing earlier this week it would begin to court teams to play a neutral-site game there. Fiesta Bowl director of public relations Andrew Bagnato said the game would provide another way to bring money to Arizona. "The tourism industry needs anything we get right now," he said.

Indeed, Orlando is losing anywhere between $30 and $40 million in potential economic impact because it cannot draw teams to play here. While the Citrus Bowl does host the Capital One Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, Florida Classic and MEAC/SWAC Challenge, the last time it hosted a marquee FBS regular-season game was in October 2000 when Notre Dame played Navy.

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Orlando's Citrus Bowl in sad state of disrepair

Seedy venue gives the city a black eye; home to Florida A&M University vs. Bethune-Cookman University annual "Florida Classic" that holds all-time Citrus Bowl football game record for attendance at 73,358 (2003).

Since 1997, a total of 689,592 fans have watched the Florida Classic in the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, an average of 68,708 per year. The game is televised nationally by ESPNU as a part of a multi-year contract with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). For the last two games, the game has been televised by ESPN Classic.

This is the best bowl trip in America. Best attractions. Best weather. Best hotels. One of the best payouts. Some of the best TV ratings. And then you show up at the stadium for the actual game.

"This place is a dump," says Tim Butera, a Michigan State fan from Washington, D.C., who was in town to watch Georgia's 24-12 victory over the Spartans Thursday. It's old and nasty," says Greg Stillwell, a Georgia fan from Palm City who was attending Thursday's game with his wife, Jennifer.

Better get used to it. Because of the slumping economy, it's looking more and more like this nasty, dumpy ol' Citrus Bowl will be the dingy, dog-eared face of Orlando sports for tourists who come here for holiday bowl games. Then again, we might not have to worry about it. If the stadium doesn't get renovated — and it's looking more and more like it won't — then the Capital One Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl and other major college football games might not be here much longer anyway.

"A 63-year bowl tradition is at risk," warns Steve Hogan, executive director of Florida Citrus Sports, the non-profit group that organizes Orlando's college football games. Hogan tries to be the optimist and says a $250 million stadium renovation is "not a matter of if, but when." Maybe so, but it's hard to imagine that Hogan's "when" is going to be anytime soon. But more than 100,000 fans attended two bowl games here this week. And that doesn't count the annual Florida A&M-Bethune-Cookman game or future regular-season games involving Notre Dame and Florida State that are contingent on a new stadium being built.

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